AI-Generated Fanfiction: Trends and User Behavior
Researchers who presented a paper at Purdue University’s MFS Cultural AI Conference found that over one-third of 500,000 analyzed ChatGPT conversations involved fiction generation. Data from the WildChat interface, collected between April 2023 and May 2024, reveals that a small subset of “power users” drives the vast majority of these requests.
What Defines an AI-Fiction User?
According to the paper AI Fiction in the Wild, researchers categorized users into two distinct groups: “story cyclers” and “infinite story demanders.” Story cyclers shift between different topics or narratives over time, while infinite story demanders repeatedly request the same or nearly identical stories during extended sessions.
The data shows a high concentration of activity among a few individuals. Researchers noted that 2% of users within the fiction subset accounted for more than 80% of the total conversations. This suggests that while AI fiction is popular, the highest volume of content is generated by a small group of highly engaged users.
The WildChat dataset, which provided the basis for this study, was hosted on Hugging Face. Users who accessed the platform agreed to have their conversations anonymized and made public for academic research purposes.
How Does AI Fanfic Compare to Traditional Communities?
There is a stark contrast between AI-generated stories and those found on the A03 repository. Traditional fanfiction repositories often feature works based on massive, communal fandoms like Harry Potter, My Hero Academia, and Supernatural. In these spaces, writers and readers interact, fostering a sense of shared community.
In contrast, AI-generated fiction remains a largely isolated, solipsistic experience. The study specifically highlighted that the most popular fictional universes requested in the ChatGPT dataset included Doki Doki Literature Club, League of Legends, Freedom Planet, and Naruto.
Why Are Certain Fandoms Overrepresented?
The research identified specific, high-frequency patterns in user prompts. One user, for instance, generated thousands of variations on a story where one of the girls of the visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club gave birth. Researchers noted that the daughter’s name, Sakura, may be a reference to a character from the Naruto manga and anime series.
If you are interested in the source material behind these trends, Doki Doki Literature Club is available for free on Steam and itch.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the WildChat dataset?
WildChat is a collection of over 500,000 anonymized, English-language ChatGPT conversations collected between April 2023 and May 2024, hosted on Hugging Face for academic research.
How is AI fanfiction different from human-written stories?
Human-written fanfiction is communal, with writers and readers engaging in feedback and shared fandom growth. AI-generated fiction is inherently isolated and masturbatory by comparison.
What are the most popular fandoms in the AI dataset?
The research identified Doki Doki Literature Club, League of Legends, Freedom Planet, and Naruto as the most popular fictional universes people requested fanfic of.
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